OAT Scoring

It is important to achieve good scores both the OAT and the GAP. Admission Committees tend to look for uniformity in the applicant's overall GPA and the OAT scores because they are considered as best indicators of the student’s success in the optometry school. Other than good grades it is important that the student posses good interpersonal skills to become good doctors.

OAT scoring is not hard to figure out when it is correctly explained. The OAT does not have any set range in its scoring to determine the student as passed or failed. The exam score is calculated by the number of correct answers the student has provided. The scores could range from 200 to 400. A student with a score range of 320 -340 is considered highly competitive. To register online the student can visit the Association of Schools and Colleges of Optometry (ASCO) website. There is no restriction on the number of times the student attempts the OAT test. Only the scores from the four most recent exams that the student had attempted would appear on the score sheet. The score range for selection may vary from one school to the other. The student should take care to find out set score range of the optometry schools that he plans to apply. Information regarding this can be either obtained by calling the school offices or on the schools official websites. The evaluation policy of the OAT and the GPA scores differ among optometry schools. Some schools take the OAT scores at a 70 percentile consideration and the GPA scores at just 30 percentile. This means that the score of just the one exam is worth more than the grades from the 4 years of under graduation. Thus it helps to know of such details about the schools that the candidate wants to apply to and work accordingly to gain admission. Usually the information regarding the calculation structure for the combination of OAT and GPA of the optometry schools are available to the public.

It helps to find out the exact location of the test area before hand to avoid last minute rush. It is important to read all the regulations of the test to avoid being misled. Although there is a time restriction for answering the questions, it helps to take the time to understand the question before answering them. It is also very helpful to take an educated guess while choosing the answers for the questions that the student finds difficult to answer. Since there is no loss of points for wrong answers the students don’t have to worry about loosing mark unnecessarily.

Taking the test systematically and professionally will ensure that the student has more time at the end than in the case of rushing or stumbling over the questions.

Once the Test is over and the student has had enough time to relax he could try and critically evaluate his test performance. This will help him to gain important insight of his performance. Through this evaluation the student could come to a fairly rough conclusion of what scores to expect and hence decide on the schools that he should be applying for registration.

There is no restriction on the number of attempts the student makes on the OAT test but he would have to submit a new application and fee for every time he retakes his test.